The big benefit to moving workers into the state marketplaces is that it shifts the burden of paying for health care from the city to the federal government. Thats a benefit for the city, at least. For the federal government, more cities moving retirees into the marketplaces means a higher price tag for Obamacare, as it subsidizes more individuals coverage.

I'm unclear how long-dead democrat politician's 1970s "promises" to unions OBLIGATE living in 2013 people's requirement to pay for said "promises".

Just looking at the numbers, it appears that you could take every last dime of a productive citizen's taxes to pay Detroit retirees, and it would leave the city with absolutely NOTHING to pay current "public servant's" salaries.

Let alone their pensions.

And boy I am SICK of hearing: "well, these were elected officials".

Dammit I DIDN'T elect them.

Stupid, corrupt, lazy people did.

Why do I have to suffer because of 40 year old graft?

You KNOW that the congress will pass a bill to bail out Detroit.

I hope the House is not stupid enough to fall for this. But I'm uncertain of that.

you all know thats where we’re headed...the govt of the IRS, NSA, FEMA, etc will now control 20% of our economy and you better hope that any freepers ever get health care.....becuz they’ll be a picking and a choosin...

As a federal retiree, I hope the best for everyone, whether they’re public or private retirees, or young people seeking to build a future for themselves and their families. It’s a misconception that those of us with supposedly secure retirements have no concern for the fate of others. I hope you, and others like you, can get the security I seemingly have, and more.

If my little city comes up with a stupid program, I can go to the department or city council meeting and scream at them. I can do the same for any stupid state programs. Stupid federal programs? I’d have to travel to D.C..
There’s a reason they make everything federal. It’s harder to scream at them. Try calling the VA. A recording comes on and says thanks for calling and then hangs up. They make it hard for you to complain.

13
posted on 07/21/2013 7:42:50 PM PDT
by blueunicorn6
("A crack shot and a good dancer")

“I hope you, and others like you, can get the security I seemingly have, and more.”

Well as a private citizen, trying to eke out a retirement on the remnants of the money I put away, I hope that the security you “seemingly have” doesn’t come at my expense, nor any other productive citizen. That you somehow think that through all of this mess, somehow you should glide along above the fray unscathed without any sort of a haircut, given where this country is, offends me!

Well as a private citizen, trying to eke out a retirement on the remnants of the money I put away, I hope that the security you seemingly have doesnt come at my expense, nor any other productive citizen.

I hope not, either. I don't want to exploit my fellow productive citizens. I was compensated for my work with the USPS. While you might well believe that I was overcompensated for such work, it wasn't given for doing nothing, and I tried to perform my job to the best of my ability. I felt that I owed that to our customers and my co-workers, just like any worker for any other enterprise.

That you somehow think that through all of this mess, somehow you should glide along above the fray unscathed without any sort of a haircut, given where this country is, offends me!

But I don't believe I'm really gliding above the fray unscathed. First of all, I have friends, family, and acquaintances in private employment who are at risk in this economy. I read stories about people losing their retirements and they break my heart. Sure, it's not the same as having it happen to myself, but those things still bother me. What about about our younger generations? Even if we could secure retirement for ourselves there're our children and grandchildren to consider. There are younger workers who live in fear of an uncertain future. How can any person be comfortable in such an environment of fear and privation? Empathy also "happens" to foolish anglos such as myself, as well as wise latinas. As for the financial haircut, I lost heavily in the crash of 2008. I have the basic postal retirement, for which I'm thankful, and is something so many others don't have, but any chance of any sort of affluence is gone. I also understand that whatever security I may have is at risk if there is no security for others. Again, it's ridiculous to suggest that I've suffered like so many others have in these times, but neither is it correct to say I'm gliding through life without a care in the world. I want to have a secure retirement for myself and my loved ones, but I want it for others, too. If that entails making a few sacrifices, then I'll have to grin and take it like a man.

Yes, I imagine that you were. I have no issue with what you were paid for your work, but it is clear that the pensions that have been established for all public employees are far more lavish than what is paid to comparable workers in the private sector. And I will wager that you contributed little to those benefits from your earnings.
On another level, I will tell you that I virtually hate going to our local post office. The “employees” there take great delight in being rude, unhelpful and work assiduously to make sure that they inconvenience you as much as they can. Example: went in the other day to mail an over weight letter. The clerk got pissed off because for an $.85 purchase, I gave her a $10 bill ( which was all that I had). She made a scene about having to make change and wanted me to dig down and come up with a $1 bill. She was lucky that she was a “protected species” because I wanted to drag her over the counter! Sadly she’s the norm, a rude, hateful minority who knows that she can dish out this $hit and not loose her job. Want a glimpse of how your Federal Government works, make a trip to the post office. Or better still go to your local DMV office. These people have completely perfected being worthless a$$holes!

On another level, I will tell you that I virtually hate going to our local post office. The employees there take great delight in being rude, unhelpful and work assiduously to make sure that they inconvenience you as much as they can.

Ugh. I hate to hear about things like that. On behalf of all decent former and current employees, I'd like to apologize. It's been my experience that the atmosphere is much friendlier in rural and small town post offices. One problem with postal retail clerks arises out of the very nature of postal work. The majority of postal clerk work is done at night, and can be dull, repetitive, and physically unpleasant. The best way to escape that is often to bid, by seniority, on a window clerk job. Sometimes that window clerk isn't the best suited to deal with the public.

You also mentioned the DMV. The last couple of years at the local DMV we've had an employee, a young black man, who is an absolute joy to deal with. A person like that can be like an oasis in the desert, and I hope he will be properly rewarded for his competence and pleasant nature.

Actually, here in CA, the DMV is light years better than it has been in the past. Years ago, I worked in San Francisco, so I went to the DMV office in Golden Gate Park to renew my driver’s license on my lunch hour. Bad mistake. Didn’t take a good look around until I had already surrendered my current license and commenced taking the written. When I got back into line, I was confronted with a triple fold line that stretched the full block between the two ends of the office. People were taking the test in line and I remember one Hispanic was having his pre-teen daughter looking up the answers in the handbook and giving them to him as they stood in the line. At 4:45 a big fat woman stood up from her desk and announced that it was time “to get the line moving so they could close.” Every clerk in the place opened a window and in the time remaining, they cleared the entire line. Oh, the Hispanic guy flunked the test and was pissed off because he didn’t have a license to drive his car home!

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